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Improving care: Managed health-care systems such as HMOs...

May 05, 1996

Improving care: Managed health-care systems such as HMOs can improve the delivery of reproductive health services to women beyond that provided by traditional insurers by expanding the range of service and removing barriers to timely delivery, says a report, "Reproductive Health Services in Managed Care Settings," by the Alan Guttmacher Institute. "Women are major consumers of health care because of their reproductive needs," says Cory L. Richards, vice president of public policy for the institute and co-author of the report. "We say that HMOs should facilitate access to contraceptive care and not require prior authorization for some methods of contraception, such as Norplants or IUDs."